Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 07:28:24 -1000
From: Tom Ramsey <ramsey@math.hawaii.edu>
To: BIRD@math.hawaii.edu, STATE@math.hawaii.edu, UTAH@math.hawaii.edu,
    again@math.hawaii.edu, ramsey-list@math.hawaii.edu

		THE STATE BIRD OF UTAH:  THE CALIFORNIA GULL
			(TESTIMONY THAT I WON'T BE USING)

	The California Gull played in a key role in the settlement of Utah,
a role widely regarded by the Mormon settlers as a sign of divine interven-
tion.  In fact, there is a prominent statue to this gull in Salt Lake City,
to honor this very physical descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Holy People.

	The initial settlement of Utah was threatened with total starvation
in 1848 as insects in hordes devoured their crops and their entire hope for
surviving to the next year.  At the critical moment, a massive flock of
California gulls descended upon the fields of Utah and blessed them by eating
the plague of insects.  There is no way to exaggerate the Biblical proportions
of this dramatic rescue, which rightly deserves a prominent place in Mormon
history.

	Some of these gulls form lesbian pair bonds.

	Michael R. Conover (Washington State and Ball State University),
Don E. Miller (Washington State) and George L. Hunt, Jr. (Univ. Calif. at
Irvine) reported in 1979 that 1 to 2 % of California gulls form female-female
pairings in three wild populations in eastern Washington.  Homosexual bondings
between animals in captivity and on farms is commonplace; what made this
discovery was the formation of pair bonds in wild animal populations.

	An example of pair-bonding in captivity occurred among two mail
penguins at Sea Life Park here on Oahu.  Their bonding was permanent, and
by every sign of penguin behavior (size of the nest and the energy invested
in decorating it) was the strongest pair bond in the Sea Life Park community
of penguins.  After several years, park officials broke up the pair bond
for reasons of their own.

	Here's the source, title and abstract of the article by Conover,
Miller and Hunt:
	FEMALE-FEMALE PAIRS AND OTHER UNUSUAL REPRODUCTIVE ASSOCIATIONS
	IN RING-BILLED AND CALIFORNIA GULLS
	in The Auk, a quarterly journal of ornithology, vol. 96, January
	1979, pages 6-9

	Abstract:  Most Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) and
	California Gulls (L. californicus) form monogamous, heterosexual
	pairs during the breeding season.  We report here the discovery
	of low frequencies (1-2%) of female-female pairings in Ring-billed
	and California gulls in three colonies in eastern Washington.
	The nests of these female-female pairs usually contain 5-6 eggs
	rather than the normal 2-3.  Between 60-70% of the eggs in the nests
	of the female-female pairs were fertile.  We also found evidence
	of brood parasitism [the laying of one's eggs in the nests of other
	birds, for them to take care of], which appears to be one cause of
	4-egg clutches, and one case of polygyny [more than one wife] in
	Ring-billed Gulls.  This polygynous association built a single
	communal nest that was incubated by three females and one male and
	apparently contained the eggs of at least two females.

	Related articles include  "Female-female Pairing in Ring-billed
	Gulls", by John P. Ryder and Patricia Lynn Stomppi (Lakehead
	University).  These researchers observed female-female pairs among
	wild populations in northern Laker Superior (The Auk, vol. 96,
	p. 1-5).

	Both of the above research efforts were preceded by the earlier
discovery of female-female pairs bonds in 8-14% of mated pairs among
western gulls (Larus occidentalis), first published by Hunt and Hunt in
1977 (secondary source:  Research Implications for Public Policy, edited
by John C. Gonsiorek and James D. Weinrich, page 16).


Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 07:14:27 -1000
From: Tom Ramsey <ramsey@math.hawaii.edu>
To: ramsey-list@math.hawaii.edu
Subject: UTAH STATE BIRD

		IMPORTANT CHANGE TO HEARING ALERT!

	Two correspondents tell me that the Senate Sergeant At Arms
IS ACCEPTING faxed testimony from Oahu residents and making the requisite
number of copies.  The voice number for the Sergeant At Arms is 586-6725,
which you can call to learn their fax number and get first hand what's
required to be able to testify on Monday.

					Best Regards,

					Tom Ramsey